Central Virginia’s newly re-drawn 59th house district, a convoluted area encompassing Lynchburg in the west, as far east as Farmville, and north to near Charlottesville, went Republican in a big surprise. Tom Garrett, the Republican, embraced fiscal and social conservatism while the Democrat from Lynchburg, Bert Dodson, who ran to the right of traditional liberals, still lost.
Dodson had been a Lynchburg city council member, a business owner and certainly no flaming lib, but was a Democrat nonetheless. Garrett was a complete unknown from Louisa county, the smallest population in the new district.
Dodson also outspent the Republican two to one. My conclusions: blacks definitely stayed home, and liberalism is no longer trusted. Also the media held no sway.
You can definitely put Virginia in the Republican “lock” column for the 2012 election.
Oops, sorry. That would be Virginia’s 22nd Senate seat, not the 59th house seat that Garrett won.